


What Happens in the Cave-In Stays in the Cave-In

by Llama1412



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Blood and Injury, Cave-In, Concussions, Cuddling & Snuggling, Drug Use, Gen, Near Death Experiences, Pre-Relationship, Rescue
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-19 05:27:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29869818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llama1412/pseuds/Llama1412
Summary: When Iorveth and Roche’s fight ends abruptly because of a cave in, they find themselves trapped together as they wait to be unburied. In the meantime, Roche is injured and Iorveth has herbs that could help - but all he knows about humans is “they need more”.
Relationships: Iorveth & Vernon Roche, Iorveth/Vernon Roche
Comments: 12
Kudos: 29
Collections: Sugar and Spice Witcher Bingo





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For the Sugar and Spice Bingo prompt "Sharing the brain cell". Please note: do not treat a concussion with weed. Just don't do it. They do it because they are very, very dumb.

Iorveth blinked in the dim light of the cave, wondering what the fuck had just happened. He’d been fighting Roche, he’d run into a cave, and then – then there had been a rumbling roar so loud that he couldn’t think and next thing he knew, he was lying on his back on the cool stone of the cave.

Looking around, the first thing he noticed was that there was no fucking light. He could see – barely – but only because elves could see with very little light. But not  _ no _ light.

There was no light, because the entrance to the cave had caved in. Fuck. He could  _ just _ make out the solid wall of rocks blocking the way, and there was no way he was moving that on his own.

Did anyone know he was here? Would his Scoia’tael know to dig him out?

Iorveth swallowed hard, shaking himself and rising to his feet to explore what he  _ could _ see. The air pocket he was stuck in wasn’t very big, just a few paces wide, and – he tripped over something and nearly fell on his face, vaguely glad no one was around to see him flailing for balance.

“What the fuck?” he grunted, kicking at the misshapen lump he’d tripped over.

The lump groaned.

Iorveth squinted, stepping closer and poking the lump with his foot again.

“Can you  _ not?” _ growled Vernon Roche, Commander of the Blue Stripes and personal pain in Iorveth’s ass.

Just because, Iorveth poked him again. 

Roche’s grunt was… a little lacking, to be honest.  _ And _ the human didn’t even respond with a witty comeback? Lame.

“Roche?” Iorveth called, poking again.

No response.

Fuck. Had Roche fucking died or some shit? That was just unacceptable. The only way the human was allowed to die was by  _ his _ sword, not some ridiculous cave in.

“Roche!”

He crept closer, wary of a trap. Roche was just the kind of bastard who would fake playing dead.

Well, technically  _ Iorveth _ was also that kind of bastard, but eh, details.

Roche continued not to move and Iorveth suddenly realized he couldn’t hear the human breathing and oh fuck, what if he really  _ was  _ dead!?

“Roche!” Iorveth risked putting his hand on Roche’s… whatever body part was in front of him. Leg, maybe, from what he could see.

When Roche  _ still _ didn’t move, Iorveth patted his way up Roche’s body until he could check if Roche was actually alive. Fingers brushed across Roche’s neck until he felt that tell tale thump. The human’s pulse was… really fast, actually, but he’d heard that humans naturally had a faster heartbeat. So maybe it was fine?

His fingers continued to climb up Roche’s jaw, finally brushing across the human’s lips and feeling the soft exhale from Roche’s nose. Thank fuck.

Not that he cared about Roche. But the honor of killing the human belong to  _ him,  _ and fortunately, that was still going to be the case. 

So why the hell was Roche unconscious? He continued patting across Roche’s face until he reached the human’s stupid hat. It was wet, wet with something slick, and Iorveth felt his breath turn cold in his chest. Head wounds bled a lot, and unlike elves, human wounds didn’t clot easily. What was he supposed to do?

Iorveth pulled off the hat to feel around Roche’s head. There was a  _ lot _ of blood, making Roche’s hair clump together. Finally, though, he found the source of the bleeding, and it appeared to be…

Now, granted, he couldn’t see very well. But he was pretty sure the cut was no more than a finger’s width long. All that blood from such a little cut? Humans were wild.

Not really sure what he was doing, Iorveth reached into his pouch and grabbed a roll of bandages by feel. Should he just… wrap it around Roche’s head? Would that even stop the bleeding?

Why were humans so confusing?

Well, first things first, he should get Roche upright. Lugging a 200lbs human was a lot harder than it should’ve been, but eventually, he got Roche leaning half against the wall and half against Iorveth’s shoulder. He wrapped the bandages carefully around Roche’s head and if that inadvertently meant stroking his fingers through the hair, well, it was entirely incidental.

Task done, he was left with an unconscious human and a whole lotta rocks. Great. When would Roche wake up?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roche is having a very rough day.

Waking up was an experience, and not one that he’d particularly like to live through again. Roche groaned loudly, his head pounding and his ears ringing and oh gods, why was he awake? Could he please just go back to the nothingness of sleep?

“Roche?” 

His eyes snapped open. That was a voice he would recognize  _ anywhere,  _ but why the fuck would he be sleeping near fucking  _ Iorveth!? _

He couldn’t see anything. Not Iorveth, but not anything else either. It was pure darkness. He tried waving a hand in front of his face and saw absolutely nothing.

“Oh fuck, am I blind? Did I hit my head that hard?”

“No,” Iorveth answered him, voice sounding… really pretty close actually. And now that he thought about it, his right shoulder was leaning against cold stone, but his  _ left _ shoulder was resting against something soft. Was he… resting against  _ Iorveth?  _ What the fuck?

“No?” he squeaked, still stuck on the  _ cuddling with Iorveth _ issue.

“There’s not light. It’s dark as fuck in here.”

“Oh.” He instinctively tried to look around, but all he saw was nothing, nothing, and more nothing. “Where… are we?”

“Cave in. No idea if anyone knows we’re here, though.”

“Great. That’s fucking marvelous,” he groused. So they were probably going to die in here. Wonderful. That was just… too much to think about with his head still pounding a bass. “Gods, my head hurts.”

Which he maybe shouldn’t admit to his enemy, but since he’d apparently been unconscious with Iorveth and the elf hadn’t done anything, it was probably fine. Plus, the whole cuddling thing.  _ Why _ were they cuddling?

It wasn’t even  _ good _ cuddling. Just his shoulder against Iorveth’s, but given that he couldn’t see a damn thing and thinking was a struggle, it was all he could think about. 

He _could_ just move away, but that felt like admitting defeat somehow. Besides, Iorveth didn’t seem to care and he refused to be more bothered about the proximity than Iorveth was.

“Can you see?” Roche asked, wondering how Iorveth knew it was a cave in. Not that there was a whole lot else it could be, he supposed.

“A little,” Iorveth admitted. “Elves need less light than humans to see. But we still  _ do _ need light, and there isn’t really any.”

“But you can see where we are?”

“It’s not exactly interesting. We’re in a cave in a small space that we can’t get out of.”

“Great.”

“Yup.”

Roche groaned, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes. His head throbbed with so much pain, it was hard to think of much else.

“If you’re in pain,” Iorveth offered hesitantly, “I have some herbs. They should work on humans, too.”

Was Iorveth offering him poison or pain relief? Either was possible, honestly. But then again, they were probably going to die in here, so did it really matter which it was? If it would make the pain go away, it would be worth it.

“Fuck it, gimme.”

Iorveth snorted, and then a hand closed around his left wrist and something leaf-like was placed against his palm. 

“Chew these.”

Since he couldn’t see what these herbs were, he tried to feel them out with his fingers and he heard Iorveth sigh. 

“Just eat it, dh’oine. Or don’t. But those herbs are valuable, so if you don’t want them…”

“No, no, I want them,” Roche said quickly, stuffing them in his mouth. They tasted bitter and leafy, but it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. “So when do they start work – whoa,” he could feel himself getting a little hazy, and the pain started… not receding, exactly, but not  _ not.  _ It was easier to ignore, at any rate.

Iorveth chuckled, a low sound in his chest, and Roche was struck with the sudden desire to feel it closer. Which was weird, because it was  _ Iorveth,  _ but also, Iorveth gave him herbs and apparently took care of him when he was unconscious? So maybe it was okay?

As long as he was sneaky about it. He could do that – sneakily cuddle with Iorveth. Like a mission, but not. A stealthy mission.

  
Slowly, he wiggled closer to Iorveth. Then he waited, for what seemed like for _ ever _ and squirmed closer again. Eventually, he would be where he wanted to be. As long as he was subtle about it. Slow and steady movements, that was the key to going unnoticed.


End file.
